Navigation

Greek authorities have arrested 29 people, including a policeman, suspected of participating in two smuggling rings taking some 600 migrants into Greece from Turkey.

Police said Wednesday the suspects were arrested following a months-long investigation. The police officer was suspended pending an investigation, while those arrested include two men who police suspect were the heads of the networks.

The smugglers allegedly picked up the refugees in the Evros border region, transporting them to Athens or the northern city of Thessaloniki. One group is accused of having transported about 400 people between December 2015 and April 2016, and the second about 200 people between September and May.

The policeman was serving in Evros and is accused of providing information on police deployments there to the chief of the second smuggling ring.